Nutritional requirements of Plasmodium falciparum in culture. III. Further observations on essential nutrients and antimetabolites.

In a semi-defined minimal medium for cultivation of Plasmodium falciparum, ribose, mannose, fructose, galactose, and maltose could not replace glucose. Hypoxanthine was the preferred purine source for the parasite over adenine, guanine, inosine, adenosine and guanosine although all supported growth equally. Inhibitors of nucleoside uptake had low potency in killing the parasites but depressed incorporation of [3H]adenosine more than [3H]hypoxanthine. Glutamate could not be replaced by 5-oxoproline, indicating that the gamma-glutamyl transferase pathway for amino acid uptake is probably not found in this organism. Adenine, nicotinamide, and orotic acid could not supplement glutamine-deficient medium. The pyridoxine antagonists isoniazid and 4-deoxypyridoxine were reversed by amino acid supplementation, suggesting that transaminases may be targets of these drugs. Orotic acid, but not glutathione or its amino acid components, partially reversed the effects of 8-methylamino-8-desmethyl riboflavin. Thus, the flavin enzyme, dihydroorotic acid dehydrogenase, but not glutathione reductase, appears to be a target of this riboflavin antagonist. Five biotin antagonists had no significant activity. The choline antagonist 2-(tert-butylamino)ethanol and thiamin uptake inhibitors had nonspecific inhibitory effects, which were not reversed by the respective target vitamin. Buthionine sulfoximine and methionine sulfoximine, inhibitors of glutathione synthesis, had significant oxygen-dependent toxicity. Six sulfonamides showed marked variation in potency and efficacy. Sulfathiazole and sulfadoxine were reversed differentially by p-aminobenzoic acid, folic acid, and folinic acid. Folinic acid was more effective than folic acid at reversing the toxicity of the dihydrofolate reductase inhibitors aminopterin and pyrimethamine; p-amino-benzoic acid had no effect.